patterson



Feb. 21, 1956 c, PATTERSON 2,735,661

MOLASSES MIXER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 5. 1953 /5 "n. P/ A? I lJ' O/mrles .L.Pa1'@rson Feb. 21, 1956 C. L. PATTERSON MOLASSES MIXER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 5. 1953 ,IILI Qg. 3/,

0/1 0/166 L. Pa [Te/"son INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 21, 1956 c. PATTERSON 2,735,661

MOLASSES MIXER Filed Nov. 5, 1953 Sheets-Sheet 5 If/3.5L

Charles l. Pa i'i'ersolz INVENTOR I I BY I l 1 ATTORNEYS Feb. 21, 1956 c. PATTERSON MOLASSES MIXER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 5, 1953 0/701'185 L. Patterson INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent MOLASSES MIXER Charles L. Patterson, Fulton, Ind.

Application November 5, 1953, Serial No. 390,383

1 Claim. (Cl. 259-22) This invention relates to a molasses mixer attachment for a feed hopper.

It .is, a principal object of this invention to provide a molasses mixer attachment of the kind to be more particularly described hereinafter having a scale, a molasses tank. on the scale and an agitator hopper for mixing the animal feed and molasses together.

It is another object of this invention to provide a molasses mixer attachment of the kind having a base, a weighing scale on the base, a molasses tank on the scalerand a powered agitator in a mixing hopper for the feed from the feed hopper to agitate the molasses and feed together when the molasses is mixed with the feed, and a pump unit for pumping molasses from the molasses tank to the mixing hopper, there being a power conveyor means for circulating the mixed. molasses and feed in the feedhopper.

'It is another object of this. invention to provide a molasses tank and mixer of this kind having agitating members spaced from the walls of the material mixing hopper for stirring and agitating the material a sufiicient distance from the walls of the agitator hopper to provide for the proper stirring of the molasses without caking of the molasses and feed on the inside surface of the cylinder which heretofore has required scrapers that consumed power and required frequent cleaning.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a molasses mixer attachment of this kind to beat, whip and pulverize the feed and molasses until the molasses is absorbed by the feed so that the mixed molasses and feed mixture loses its adhesiveness and is mixed without sticking or rolling into balls or lumps.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mixing hopper on a wheeled base for disposition adjacent to a 'feed hopper to obtain feed from a spout on the feed hopper and mix a determined weight ofmolasses with the feed from the hopper.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a molasses mixer attachment for a feed hopper including a powered agitator for a feed and molasses mixing hopper which is attached to the feed hopper intermediate the ends to agitate and mix the feed with the molasses.

It is yeta further object of this invention to provide a mixing hopper attachment for movement into and out of engagement with a spout of a feed mixer to mix a selected weight of molasses with the feed before the mixed feed may be bagged and having a pumping unit for pumping the molasses from the molasses tank to the mixing hopper.

Other and further objects and advantages of this invention will be hereinafter described and the novel features thereof defined in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation, partly broken away and partly in section, of a molasses mixer attachment constructed according to an embodiment of my invention in operative engagement with an animal feed hopper.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation, partly in section, taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section, partly broken away, through the upper end of the molasses tank.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view, partly broken away, and partly in section of the molasses pump unit of my invention.

Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of a modified form of my molasses mixer attachment.

Fig. 8 is a transverse vertical section through the modified form of the molasses mixer.

Referring more. specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates generally a molasses mixer device, constructed according to an embodiment of my invention for mixing molasses from the feed hopper 11 with the feed normally contained therein. The feed hopper 11 is provided with a vertically extending screw 12 for transferring the feed from the lower end of the feed hopper to the upper end thereof and the feed is moved downwardly by gravity from the upper end of the feed hopper to the lower end thereof.

A pulley 13 is fixed to the upper end of the screw 12 upwardly of the feed hopper 11 and rotated by means of a belt 14 which is engaged about the pulley 13, the belt being rotated by a suitable driving means, not shown in the drawings.

For mixing the feed in the feed hopper'11 with molasses, a wheeled base 15 is provided exteriorly of the feed hopper to be moved into closed engagement therewith for taking some of the feed from the feed'hopper and mixing the feed with the molasses and then transferring the feed, mixed with the molasses, back to the lower end of the feed hopper 11 from which the feed, mixed with the molasses, is again moved to the upper end of the feed' hopper 11 by the screw 12 and then again dropped into the mixing hopper 17 by gravity to be again mixed with the molasses.

The mixing hopper 17 is secured on the upper side of the wheeled base 15 and is connected directly to the molasses tank 18 which is also mounted on the base 15 adjacent to the mixer hopper 17.

The molasses tank 18 is provided with a section cover 19 which is hingedly mounted on the upper open end of the molasses tank by a piano type hinge 20 so that molasses may be poured into the molasses tank 18 by pivoting the sections of the cover 19 to their open position.

The molasses tank 18 is supported on the upper side of a platform 21 which is directly connected to a scale 22 so thatthe molasses within the molasses tank 18 may be weighed directly whereby an accurate amount of molasses maybe determined before being mixed with the feed in the feed hopper 11.

Midway along the vertical length of the feed hopper 11,.a bagging spout 23 is extended outwardly from the feed hopper and engages over the upper open end of the mixing hopper 17 so that feed may be transferred from the feed hopper 11 to the mixing hopper 17 by way of,

; the spout 23 when the base 15 and scale 22, together with the mixing hopper 17 and molasses tank 18, are moved to a position for receiving the feed into the mixing hopper 17.

The lower end of the mixing hopper 17 is open so that the mixed feed may fall from the mixing hopper 17 downwardly again adjacent to the lower end of the feed hopper 11 and conveyed again by the lower end of thescrew 12 upwardly within the feed hopper 11.

For mixing the molasses from the molasses tank with-- the animal feed from the feed hopper 11, there is pro. vided a motor 24 supported on the base 15 on an up Patented Feb. 21, 1956 r wardly extending rigid arm 25 which is secured at its lower end to the upper side of ther-base' 15-. A motor shaft 26 extends downwardly from the motor 24 and connects atits lower end to. the upper end of a vertically extending rod- 27 which extends" within the mixing hopper 17. Outwardly extending spikes" 28are' formed on the lower end-of the rod27for engagementwith'the molasses from the molasses tank and the feed from the feed tank to thoroughly mixthe molasses with the feed and to pulverize the feed by the frequent. beating of thefeed with the inner surface of the inside Walls of the mixing hopper 17. The outer end of each of the'spikes 28 is spaced inwardly from the inner surface of the mixing hopper 17' sothat themixedfeed will not'adhere to the inside surface of the mixing hopper, to interfere with the rotation of the spikes.

The molasses is mixed withthe feed until a desired solvent is obtained in the mixture of the molasses and the feed andthe lower end'of the mixing hopper 17 is provided with a choke 29 extending radially inwardly of the mixing hopper so that the: feed'will have to be mixed withthe molasses sufiiciently to provide a sort of fluid type of feed to drop from the lower open end of the mixing hopper into the lowerend of the feed hopper.

The molasses is moved from the molasses tank to the mixing hopper by pump 30'which is also carried by the base 15 and actuated directly by a pump motor 31 which also is supported on a base. As the speed of the pump motor is considerably greater than the speed required for the pump, a speed reducer 32 is carried by the base for synchronizing the speed of the pump with that of the pump motor.

Tubes 33 are suitably connected between the molasses tank 18 and the mixing hopper 17, there being a perforated pipe 34 at one end of the tube connection which is swivelly connected to one of the tubes 33, extending at one end within the mixing hopper 18, by a proper swivel 35.

A handle 36 is securedto the outer end of the perforated pipe 34 for rotating the pipe 34 in its connection to the tubes so that when sufiicient molasses has been admitted to the mixing hopper 17, the perforated pipe 34 may be rotated about its axis so that no more molasses will drip from the perforationsof the pipe into the mixing hopper.

In the use and operation of themolasses mixing device 10, the wheeled base 15 is movedto engagement below the feed spout 23 so that when molasses is admitted into the molasses tank 18 and the screw 12 is actuated at the same time the motor 24 is energized the feed within the feed hopper 11 is moved to the upper end of the feed hopper and dropped downwardly through the spout 23 and into the mixer hopper 17 Where the feed is further pulverized and mixed with molasses.

The feed hopper is of a general ordinary configuration and a molasses mixer device may be moved to and below the spout 23 when it is desired to add molasses to the feed within the feed hopper 11.

When the feed has been thoroughly saturated with the molasses, the molasses mixture device may be moved away from the feed hopper 11 and the feed placed in suitable bags or receptacles adjacent the spout for carrying the mixed molasses andfeed away from the feed.

hopper.

In Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, there is shown a modified'fornrof this invention wherein the mixing hopper 17 is secured to and carried by the downwardly extending supporting arms 37 on a feed hopper 11'. The feed hopper 11' is of the same general nature as the feed hopper 11, described above, having a vertically extending screw 12' and an outwardly extending spout 23 extending outwardly from the feed hopper 11 intermediate the vertical length thereof.

A vertically extending arm 25', formed with outwardly extending spikes 28, is rotatably supported within the mixing hopper 17 in much the same manner as the shaft 27 and spikes 28'described above.

The feed hopper 11 is provided with a pulley 13 at the upper end of the screw 12 to be rotated by a belt 14' or other suitable actuating means for the screw conveyor 12'.

The lower end of the feed hopper 11 is provided with a radially extending choke 29 for limiting the free movement of the molasses and feed downwardly from the mixing hopper 17 to the lower end of the screw 12'.

In this latterform of the invention the feed hopper 11 is supported directly on the ground G and the mixing hopper 17 is directly connected to the feed hopper rather than having the mixing hopper wheeled up to and removed from the feed hopper.

Molasses is pumped into the modified mixer through a perforatedpipe, 34'- by a pump 30, not shown in the drawings, in much the same manner as the molasses mixer described above. A handle 36' is secured on an end of the pipe 34-"in substantially the same manner and for the same purpose as the handle 36 on the pipe 34 described ab ove.

In Figs. 1' to 6 there is shown a portable molasses mixing attachment and in Figs. 7 and 8 the same mixing attachmentis stationary with the feed hopper, the scales and pump unit.

While the specific. details of this invention have been herein shown and described, the invention is not confined thereto as changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined in the appended claim.

I'claim:

In combination a feedand molasses mixing means, comprising an upper hopper, a discharge spout in the lower portion of said hopper, a lower hopper having an open upper end confronting said spout, a conveyor between said hoppers-for moving the'feed from the lower hopper to the upper hopper, a molasses mixer comprisinga mobilescale, a molasses tank on said scale, a mixing hopper adjacent said tank and removably engageable between said spout and said lower hopper, means discharging molasses from. said tank to said mixing hopper, and means for mixing the molasses and feed in said mixing hopper.

References (Zited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 808,599 Crichfield Dec. 26, 1905 1,829,066 Shelton Oct. 27, 1931 2,504,486 Anderson Apr. 18, 1950 

